This is a RetroRenovation rerun originally published Nov. 9, 2008.
10. Camp sees everything in quotation marks. It’s not a lamp, but a “lamp”; not a woman, but a “woman.” To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater.
- Susan Sontag, Notes on “Camp”, 1964
Dan the Man at the Houston Architecture Info Forum recently linked to RetroRenovation.com with the following comment:
Here’s a neat blog on mid-century residential design. It tends towards the kitsch, but it recommends many resources and materials for appropriate renovations…
While I am truly grateful for the reco, I found myself reacting harshly at being called “kitsch” and the disparaging connotation. Hmmm. So what is kitsch…and should I care at being lumped in? I went over to Wikipedia to study etymology…
Regular readers will have noticed a number of changes here over the past weeks and months. I’ve been working virtually full time on the blog since December making improvements and in general, trying to nail down what it wants to be when it grows up. Today, I’d like to give you an update covering:
Happy birthday to the blog today – it is one year old in the .com environment. So, while I generally try to avoid it, I am going to get ridiculously sentimental. Heck yeah there is more…
I recently did a blogtalk radio interview with Mitzi, of VintageGoodness.com, and her radio co-host Walt. We talked about RetroRenovation.com … blogging for fun and profit (ha ha) … and the emerging trends in retro renovation. The show is an hour, and you can listen on your computer of download it to your iPod. It was a blast talking to Mitzi — thank you, M!
Yes, the blog has a new look. Coming up on its first birthday (Oct. 26) I was just thinking… it’s time for Betty to get a makeover. So I worked with gem of a designer Suzy Massey of Phoenix Massey Design to mod-ify the header, ha ha. Our goal was to be inclusive of the 40s, 50s and 60s… from the carpet to the knotty pine to the ball chair, respectively. Suzy was a dream to work with – yet ANOTHER great new friend made from the blog — and we have more fun surprises to come! Suzy also christened our new sassy dame: Groovy Girl. Hope you like it!
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